Ervin Santana rejected a one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer last winter from the Royals because he thought he would be able to hit it big on the free agent market. He wound up having to settle for a one-year, $14.1 million free agent deal from the Braves, and now we get to do this all over again.

It only takes one owner to meet the asking price, but it’s hard to see Santana suddenly being able to command such a lengthy commitment. The right-hander had a 3.24 ERA (127 ERA+) over 211 innings in 2013 for Kansas City and he posted a 3.95 ERA (92 ERA+) in 196 innings this past season with Atlanta.

Those are the only four quarterbacks, through 12 weeks of the 2014 NFL regular season, who are ahead of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan in overall passing. The Falcons’ signal-caller is averaging 279 passing yards per game, and he’s completing 65 percent of his passes.

And he’s doing it with constant pressure from opposing defenses and no time to think – much like he has been for the past two seasons.

While the Falcons may still sit in first place of the historically-bad NFC South with a 4-7 record, there’s no doubting Atlanta’s mediocrity. All you had to do was watch the way the Cleveland Browns’ offensive line pushed them around last Sunday to see that it pays to spend years building an important foundation, instead of wasting big draft picks on flashy players.

MLB’s 2014 postseason awards started in full swing with the presentation of the Gold Gloves. The Braves were represented on the GG squad, by a repeat winner.

SS Andrelton Simmons (Lynchburg, 2011) won his second straight Gold Glove by turning in another solid season defensively. He did make 14 errors, the same as a season ago, but posted a still solid .978 Fielding Percentage, and he led all NL SS with 99 Double Plays turned, as well as a 3.9 Wins Above Replacement on defense.

This was the second straight Gold Glove for Simmons, who played 131 games for Lynchburg in 2011 when coming up in the Braves system.

After a month like this, you’d think about fleeing the country, too. The Atlanta Falcons have lost four consecutive games by the aggregate score of 127-68. (Not-so-fun fact: The Falcons beat Tampa Bay 56-14 in September and have still been outscored by opponents by 28 points on the season.) They’re 2-5. Not one of their losses has been by single digits.

We started off thinking (for good reason) that their defense was lousy. Now their offense is, too. They’ve scored 40 points and four touchdowns in three games. The lowest three-game output for the 2013 Falcons — who finished 4-12, you’ll recall — was 33 points against Arizona, Carolina and Seattle, but all three of those teams wound up winning at least 10 games. This brings us to the truly sobering part.

Evan Gattis hasn’t played a full game for the Braves since September 7 because of strep throat and, more recently, a kidney stone. In that time, Atlanta has lost 12-of-14 games and been completely eliminated from postseason contention. But there will be no early shutdown for the 28-year-old slugging catcher.

David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Gattis is scheduled to return to the Braves’ starting lineup for Thursday night’s series finale against the Pirates. Gattis is only expected to play about five innings, serving as the catcher for spot starter David Hale, who’s filling in for Mike Minor.

Al Horford is returning from a torn right pectoral muscle that limited him to 29 games last season.

The Hawks open training camp next week. Here are five things to look for as the team prepares for the 2014-15 season and the second year under coach Mike Budenholzer.

1. The health of Al Horford

The center’s season came to an abrupt end last year when he tore his right pectoral muscle in a game against the Cavaliers on Dec. 26. He was done after just 29 games. At the time of the injury, Horford led the team in scoring and rebounding and the Hawks were third in the Eastern Conference. Without him, they slipped to eighth and made the playoffs despite a below-.500 record.

Horford progressed in his rehabilitation and was doing some basketball activities – minus contact – during a summer trip to Italy with Basketball Without Borders. There…

Yeah, the Atlanta Falcons completely annihilated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during Thursday night’s matchup, but it was no contest for Falcons wide receiver Devin Hester. The 31-year-old Hester set an NFL record with his 20th career return touchdown, surpassing the previously record held by Hall of Famer and former Falcons cornerback Deion Sanders. It was such an epic moment as the three-time Pro-Bowler made history by taking a punt 62 yards for a score while displaying celebratory moves of Deion Sanders. Prior to signing with the Atlanta Falcons, Hester spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Chicago Bears.

FLOWERY BRANCH — The NFL is copycat league and the Falcons needs to steal a few pages out of the Eagles playbook and use Antone Smith and/or Devonta Freeman like the Eagles are using Darren Sproles.

The former New Orleans Saint was a terror in space last night against the Colts. He had 11 touches for 178 yards. He had four rushes for 26 yards and caught seven passes for 152 yards.

Curtis ComptonFalcons running back Antone Smith breaks away from Saints safety Jairus Byrd picking up a block from Levine Toilolo for a 54-yard touchdown during the third quarter in their NFL football game on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014, in Atlanta. (By Curtis Compton/Ccompton@ajc.com)

He powered the Eagles to a 30-27 comeback victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

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